


First Time Is Not the Charm

by rosa_himmelblau



Category: Wiseguy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-20
Updated: 2018-06-20
Packaged: 2019-05-26 02:39:49
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14990972
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rosa_himmelblau/pseuds/rosa_himmelblau
Summary: Vince was not the first to try to infiltrate the Steelgrave organization.





	First Time Is Not the Charm

**Author's Note:**

  * For [troyswann](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=troyswann).



Frank had wanted to get a new suit, but that hadn't worked out. Between a mortgage payment, a car payment, and formula and diapers for Drake—oh, and the money he'd had to send Jenny's mother to get her roof replaced—there just wasn't any extra money, and he'd been told his wardrobe was his own responsibility, did he think this newly-formed branch of the FBI had the budget cut to buy him clothes? So he was wearing his own old, but newly cleaned, gray suit.

Frank wasn't nervous, though. He'd been undercover before, usually doing what he was doing now: pretending to be an accountant. He'd done well in his accounting classes, which had something to do with how he drew these assignments, and he could talk to the Bureau's forensic accountants and understand what they said, and report information that they found useful. But Frank knew those weren't the real reasons he got these cases. He got them because he looked like an accountant. 

There'd been an opening in the legit side of the organization, and Frank had got himself the position. He wasn't expecting to find anything in his work. But if he kept his head down and paid attention, he'd find an opening. It was something Frank did very, very well. He was overlookable, unnoticeable, and forgettable. His suit, which looked rumpled no matter how carefully it was pressed, only emphasized that.

 

It was early afternoon when Sonny Steelgrave opened Frank's office door. He didn't come into the office; he just stood there, leaning against the doorjamb. He was, Frank noted, wearing a suit that probably cost at least one of Frank's mortgage payments.

Frank pretended not to notice him, pretended to be absorbed in his work, waited for Steelgrave to say something, but Steelgrave just stood there, looking at him, and at last Frank had to look up, or risk looking like a moron. "Mr. Steelgrave. Is there something I can do for you?" he said, trying to sound small and nervous. He had been told—by more than one person, and on more than one occasion—that sometimes there was an edge to his voice, an edge that conveyed the message that he thought the person he was speaking to was an idiot, even if his words didn't say anything like that. Frank tried not to use that edge. Very often. When he was working.

Steelgrave didn't answer him, or seem to notice any edge. He just stood there, looking at him, seeming a little puzzled, as though he wasn't sure what one of them was doing there.

"Mr. Steelgrave?" Frank said again, making his voice go even smaller, so small there was no room for an edge.

"I don't see it," Steelgrave said, shaking his head. He pushed himself off the doorjamb, stuck his hands in his pockets. "I don't see it, or smell it, or anything."

"I beg your pardon?" Frank said. He had no idea what the man was talking about. To his own ears, he sounded as confused as he felt.

"Sonny!" Dave Steelgrave's voice came from down the hall. "You coming, or what?"

Sonny waved at his brother, a dismissive, don't-bother-me wave. He started to walk away, then came back. "Oh, yeah, McPike—it's McPike, right? Frank McPike?"

"Yes, sir," Frank was getting a strange, bad feeling.

"Yeah, you're fired. Clean out your desk, Tony'll escort you down to pick up your severance pay, then out of the building."

"Sir?" Frank couldn't believe this; he'd been there less than a day. "I don't understand."

"Yeah, yeah, whatever. Look, we got rules around here, there's no room for leniency."

Frank stood up, baffled and becoming angry. "Rules? What rules could I have broken, I only started here this morning! I haven't even been to lunch yet!"

"Sonny!" Dave's voice again. "You gonna fire that cop or ask him for a date?"

 _Cop?_ Now Frank was frightened, which made him angrier, though he kept that to himself. "Mr. Steelgrave, I think there must be some kind of mistake here—"

Steelgrave sighed. "Frank. My brother doesn't make mistakes, not about cops. So you go back to whoever you're really working for, and tell 'em, nice try."

"I'm not—" Frank didn't know why he was arguing; being accused of being a cop meant his part of the investigation was over. Even if he somehow managed to talk Steelgrave into keeping him on, his field director would pull him out ASAP. But Frank couldn't help himself. "Where did you get the idea I'm a cop?"

"I'd tell you to ask my brother, but he doesn't talk to cops without a subpoena."

Tony Greco had come up behind Steelgrave, and he laughed at this, even while glowering at Frank. Frank glowered back at him. "Sonny, Dave wants to know if you're ready for lunch."

Steelgrave rolled his eyes. "No kidding, Tony, is that what he's been hollering about? You stay here, make sure this gentleman finds his way safely down to payroll and then off the premises. It's not that we got anything against cops," he said, in a pseudo-friendly way that made Frank itch to punch him. "We like cops! It's just we got a strict policy around here about moonlighting—" Dave Steelgrave yelled Sonny's name again, and again Sonny waved at him impatiently. "I'm coming!" And then to Frank, "Don't be seen around here again, pal."

**Author's Note:**

> This is probably not what troyswann had in mind. But it's what showed up in my head from her "young, scrappy, undercover Frank suggestion.
> 
> And it showed up at 9:30 last night, literally two minutes after I'd gotten myself all nice and comfy bed. I'm now sleep deprived from getting back up to write for two hours. Damn stupid inconsiderate TV characters! I didn't do anything all day except kill a VCR!
> 
> Sorry, I'm rambly. Anyway, here's the tiny little story. Be careful not to step on it.


End file.
